2014
Migrants as agents of development
Publication
Publication
Diaspora engagement discourse and practice in Europe
Ethnicities , Volume 2014 p. 1- 19
Abstract
This article analyses how European governments and civil society actors engage diasporas
in Europe as agents for the development of their countries of origin. Through a
critical examination of diaspora engagement discourse and practice in various European
countries, we identify three implicit understandings. First, development is conceived of
as the planned activities ofWestern professional development actors; second, diasporas
are seen as actual communities rooted in a national ‘home’ and sharing a group identity;
and third, migration is regarded as binary mobility. We argue that these interpretations
are informed by notions of ethnic or national rootedness in given places and that they
lead to further assumptions about why, and in pursuit of what goals, diasporas engage.
We conclude that such essentialized understandings limit the potential of diaspora
engagement as a means of innovating the development industry by broadening understandings
of what development entails and how it can be done.
Additional Metadata | |
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doi.org/10.1177/1468796814530120, hdl.handle.net/1765/51328 | |
ISS Staff Group 2: States, Societies and World Development | |
Ethnicities | |
Organisation | International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (ISS) |
Sinatti, G., & Horst, C. (2014). Migrants as agents of development. Ethnicities, 2014, 1–19. doi:10.1177/1468796814530120 |